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Bengal CM’s economic advisor targets BJP over MNREGA fund row
Amit Mitra alleged that there is a plan to destabilise state governments run by opposition parties that are part of the INDIA group
West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee’s principal chief advisor Amit Mitra targeted the Bharatiya Janata Paty (BJP) on Saturday alleging that the suspension of central funds for welfare schemes, Enforcement Directorate (ED) raids on opposition leaders across India and action against NGOs are all part of a design aimed at helping the saffron party win elections in all states.
“What can be more anti-federal than this?” Mitra, former finance minister of the state, said at a virtual press conference, days after Trinamool Congress (TMC) national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee launched an indefinite demonstration outside the Raj Bhawan in Kolkata protesting suspension of central funds for schemes under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act 2005 (MNREGA) and Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY) in the state.
The agitation entered its third day on Saturday when two TMC Lok Sabha members, Mahua Moitra and Kalyan Banerjee, and panchayat minister Pradip Mazumdar, reached Darjeeling to meet governor C V Ananda Bose with the demand that he must meet a TMC delegation led by Banerjee in Kolkata.
“The Union ministry of rural development stopped the MNREGA funds for Bengal on December 24, 2021 but did not cite any reason. Realising that some reason must be cited, the Centre sent a letter on March 9, 2022, saying the action was taken under Section 27 of MNREGA,” Mitra said in Kolkata.
“Till September 27 this year, Bengal’s MNREGA dues stood at ₹6,907 crores. Even the interest on this amount would be around ₹200 crore. A number of NGOs have moved court, challenging this action. We are keeping a watch on the court proceedings,” he added.
“You will notice a pattern here. There is a plan to destabilise state governments run by opposition parties that are part of the INDIA group. ED is conducting raids on leaders of these parties in Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Telengana, West Bengal, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Kerala and Delhi under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). This is fundamentally anti-democratic. The courts are questioning ED and pointing at lack of evidence. This is cowboy politics,” Mitra said.
“NGOs and the civil society have been targeted as well. The registrations of 5933 NGOs have lapsed in 10 years. During this period, the licences of 20,600 NGOs have been cancelled, according to Amnesty International. Of these, 6000 licences were cancelled in 2022,” said Mitra.
“On the other hand, there have been no development in the probe into the Vyapam scam in Madhya Pradesh. NGO’s affiliated to the Sangh Parivar are getting huge funds from abroad,” Mitra added.
Earlier this week, the ED summoned Abhishek Banerjee’s wife and his parents, Amit and Lata Banerjee, between October 6 and 9 for questioning in the bribe-for-job scam in the education department since they are directors of Leaps and Bounds, a company under scanner. The company’s offices were raided by ED on August 21 and 22. The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) is also probing the case under orders of the Calcutta high court.
Amit Banerjee - one of the younger siblings of Mamata Banerjee – and his wife were never questioned by any federal agency earlier. Lata Banerjee did not go to the ED office on Friday citing illness, ED officials said.
Amid the tussle over central funds, Union minister of state for rural development, Sadvi Niranjan Jyoti, landed in Kolkata to counter Abhishek Banerjee’s allegation that she did not meet the TMC delegation at her Delhi office on October 3.
“The Centre has no intention of stopping the funds. It will be released as soon as the state government furnishes accounts of the money spent so far. I was waiting at my office till 9.30pm. Instead of meeting me, the TMC MPs kept putting up conditions. Initially they said five MPs would see me. Then they said 10 MPs would come. I agreed to both but instead of coming to my room they sent a message saying I would have to meet the people from Bengal who went to Delhi (for the agitation). I refused, saying the appointment was sought only to hold official discussion on MNREGA funds,” the minister said.
“TMC leaders are spreading lies, saying I left my office through the backdoor instead of meeting them. It seems the TMC’s foundation stands on lies,” she added.
After meeting the governor at the Raj Bhawan in Darjeeling, Mahua Moitra said: “The governor assured us that he will talk to the Centre but said he won’t be able to do anything if this issue becomes political.”
